Microblading – Is it Worth it?

Short answer, hell yes!

I’ve been thinking about microblading for about a year and a half now. As a teenager in the 00’s I was heavily influenced by the likes of Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera and Angelia Jolie. Basically this was pencil thin eyebrows. And yes I admit, I used to shave them off and draw them back on. As a result of overplucking they never grew back! If they did they were sparse, thin and practically non-existent in some places. At 28.. the routine of having to spend 10-15 minutes stencilling them on, filling them in and then making a constant conscious effort not to touch them during the day otherwise they’d come off was getting tedious and quite frankly, a pain in the arse.

I’d tried eyebrow serums, I’d tried all different kinds of brow powders, gels, tints.. if they sold it, I’d bought it and none of them worked. So I was residing myself to the fact that this was just part of my morning and it would never change. Until microblading peaked my interest.
I’ve never liked the idea of getting them fully tattooed on. They seemed too harsh and dark for my taste! I’m also VERY fussy about my eyebrows; they have to be symmetrical, they have to look natural and relinquishing control to someone else who was going to be making them a permanent fixture on my face made me very nervous! But after careful consideration I decided to take the plunge and get them done.

What is Microblading?

It’s basically a semi permanent treatment to define, fill in or completely replace whatever may not be there already. A technician uses a tiny blade dipped into a pigment selected for you, instead of a tattoo gun, to place individual strokes onto your brow. As a result it mimics real hairs, looks completely natural and lasts anywhere between 6 months – 2 years depending on how you look after them.

Finding the Right Artist

I took this as seriously as I would have done if I was getting a big tattoo and it’s part of the reason why it took me so long to get it done in the first place. A lot of places local to me offered “microblading” but the results weren’t really what I was looking for. They were very bold, dark and looked more like the tattooing procedure than the microblading.

Eventually I stumbled across Anya Katie Cosmetics; she’s based in Barton Seagrave and her before and after pictures are what sold me. You can check out her work [ here ] to see why.
She also offers a payment plan which was PERFECT for me! I only had to pay a small amount each month so it made it really affordable.

I got in touch and made an appointment see her for the same day, which I was very excited about! She welcomed me into her home, made me a cup of tea and we made our way up to her home salon which was bright, elegant and very comfortable.

We went over what I was expecting from the treatment – which was for fuller natural looking brows. Discussed what will happen during the procedure and all the small print. I agreed to have them done the same evening so we didn’t do a patch test and I signed a waiver regarding this. I would of course recommend you do this first to ensure you’re not allergic to the inks they use etc.
There were a number of forms to fill out and while I was doing this she had put the anesthetic cream onto my brows so it was nice and numb for when the good stuff starts.

The Process

Anya spent a good half an hour drawing on the perfect brow for my face. There were a lot of tools she used to ensure perfect symmetry, shape, height, length. You name it, she was factoring it in. She was that meticulous that the first set she traced out SHE wasn’t happy and took them off to start again. This made me feel very confident that she knew what would suit my face and eased my apprehension.
When she asked me to check out the final shape in the mirror it looked like a complicated mathematical equation! Lots of lines, measurements etc. But I was happy with her stencil and really excited to get started.

To shorten this section I’ll give you a quick I’ll give you a quick bullet point breakdown of what the whole process entails:

1 – Brows are numbed with an anaesthetic cream for around 20 mins.2 – Technician will draw on your perfect brows shape and make sure you’re happy with them.3 – The perfect shade for your skin and existing brow is selected and the blade is dipped into the ink before each hair is drawn. This can take between 30 to 45 minutes depending on how much needs to be done (ie: first time or as a top up).4 – Once all the lines are drawn, the ink is applied all over the area to increase the pigment that can be absorbed into the skin. This will be left to set for a little while for the best results.5 – The excess ink is wiped away to reveal your finished brows.6 – If any touch-ups are necessary, the process will be repeated again and this will be booked with your technician.

Does it Hurt?

Yes and no. If you’ve ever had a tattoo then I can tell you that the “pain” is very similar. But I have a very high threshold and would consider it more uncomfortable than painful. After a while it can get a little sore because they’ll be going over the same areas. But it’s completely manageable and not that bad at all.

It’s a strange sensation as you can feel the scrapping as they pull the blade across your skin. The thing that got me the most is when she was doing the parts closest to the bridge of my nose; I kept wanting to sneeze!
It’s not unbearable and I’ve had manicures that were worse than this. It does make your eyes water a little bit and ultimately is more sore than anything else. More so towards the end because the topical cream is starting to wear off. But that’s to be expected.

The Results

They came out so much better than I expected and I was so happy I decided to go for it. Anya had slightly lifted my brows at the tail because I have deep set eyes. She said it would to open them up and frame them better and she was right.

When we were done she gave me an aftercare leaflet and tips on how to keep them looking their best. There’s a few do’s and don’ts during the healing process so be sure to check those. I got home and my fiance had a hard time believing they weren’t actual hairs! I’ve had so many compliment and questions about them too; hence this blog post.

Go For it!

If you think it’s right for you I definitely recommend it. Whether you just want some definition, fill what isn’t there or you simply want gorgeous brows 24/7. Do it! It’s worth every penny in my opinion.